Automatic flying splice



Dec. 15, 1964 D. A. GODDARD AUTOMATIC FLYING SPLICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 6, 1962 ak WW as INVENTOR. Dev/s d. z'v dard Dec. 15, 1964 D. A. GODDARD 3,161,367

AUTOMATIC FLYING SPLICE Filed Sept. 6, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Den/s AJm/ ard BY M $4M, w mws United States Patent Ofifice 3,161,367, Patented Dec. 15, 1964 3,161,367 AUTGMATEQ FLYHNG $1 1168 Benis A. Goddard, Eeioit, Wis, assignor to Eeloit Evaporation, Beloit, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Fiied dept. 6, 19-52, Ser. No. 221,733 it) (Ilaims. (El. 2 i2--5S.4)

The present invention relates to continuous unwinding mechanisms and particularly to a mechanism for continuously supplying a travelling paper web and for forming a flying splice by attaching the lead end of a paper web from a fresh parent roll to the surface of the traveling web of paper from an expiring parent roll.

The splicing mechanism of the invention contemplates utilization in various environments of unwinding machines wherein a flying splice is to be made, and is particularly useful in an unwinding machine such as the type wherein the unwinding paper web travels to a super calendering machine or to other paper handling mechanisms in a paper conversion operation such as off-machine coaters. L1 this operation very large heavy rolls of paper have been previously formed on a paper making sachine and are to be further treated. As soon as one large parent roll is unwound, continuing operation is desirable and is accomplished by splicing the lead end of a fresh large roll to the travelling paper web without requiring that the mechanism be stopped.

The present invention utilizes an unwind stand arranged wherein the unwinding travelling web is fed over a turning or a splice roll and a suction transfer roll forms a pressure splice nip with the splice roll to press the lead end onto the travelling web. The transfer roll is also urged by unique mechanism into pressure contact with the fresh roll so as to perform the dual function of synchronizing the speed of the fresh roll with the travelling paper web. The arrangement is well adapted to being operated automatically wherein a detecting means such as a photoelectric cell detects the position of the lead end of the fresh roll and operates the glue applicator and the suction roll so as to time and position the splice with the desired overlap of the lead end relative to the position of the splice.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved flying splice mechanism with an unwind machine which obtains a reliable splice between the surface of the travelling paper web and the lead end of a fresh web by obtaining positive uniform speed of the surface of the fresh roll and the travelling web and by providing a firm pressure splice nip separated from the surface of the fresh roil.

A further object of the invention is to provide an im proved means for removing the lead end of a web from a fresh roll before splicing and transferring the lead end to the surface of the travelling web in a splice nip which is positioned away from the surface of the fresh roll.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved force arrangement for obtaining a pressure nip between the transfer roll and the fresh roll, and between the transfer roll and the splice roll at the time when the splice is to be made, and wherein the transfer roll can be moved out of the way during other periods of operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved splicing mechanism in a flying splice machine wherein glue can be applied to the travelling web during operation of the machine and just before the splice is made.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a flying splice mechanism in an unwinding machine which has a simple and compact construction and which pro vides for positive sheet transfer, and which eliminates complex electronic synchronizing equipment.

Other objects, advantages and features will become more apparent with the teaching of the principles of the invention in connection with the disclosure of the pre ferred embodiment thereof in the specification, claims and drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an end elevational View showing somewhat schematically an unwinding mechanism constructed and operating in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view shown in somewhat schematic form of the mechanism of FIGURE 1 as viewed looking to the left in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a detailed fragmentary front elevational View shown in somewhat schematic form of mechanism for obtaining a force on the transfer roll to obtain nip pressure; and

FTGURE 4 is a diagrammatic View of sensing mechanisms for automatic operation.

On the drawings:

FIGURES l and 2 illustrate horizontal rails on a frame or stand along which slide first roll supports 11 that support an unwinding parent roll R The roll is mounted on a core 12 which is held in the first parent roll support 11 by a locking dog 13.

Removably mounted on the roll support if; is a brake mechanism 14 having a brake shoe 15 which is applied to the surface of the roll when it is to be stopped, after the splice has been made, after the web has been cut. Brake pressure is applied by a pneumatic bellows l6 pro= vided with air pressure through a suitable supply line 16a. As will be appreciated, various forms of brakes may be employed.

The web w is fed off the unwinding roll R until it is nearly expired, and after the splice has been successfully made, a fresh roll R is transferred to the first roll support 11, and for this purpose the support 11 is moved along the rail 8 by a horizontally extending chain 17 which is driven by suitable means and is supported on the stand iii. The fresh roll R is brought down at a position which may be referred to as the transfer station, and positioned in the first support.

In order to make the splice between the travelling web w and the lead end on the fresh roll R adhesive or glue is applied to the surface of the web w by a glue applicator 19 carried on a pivotal arm 18. The glue applicator is swung up into glue applying position by operation of a suitable operator such as a piston and cylinder 18:: operated by a valve 181) and an air line.

A suitable conveying means is provided for removing the core shaft of the expired roll after the splice has been made, and in order that the fresh roll R can be placed in the first support 11.

The core shaft 2% of the fresh roll R is supported by means of a second parent roll support whereby the shaft 20 is supported in a transfer arm 21 by being clamped in a seat thereon by a clamping arm 22. The clamping arm is pivotally mounted on the transfer arm 21;, and is pivoted to a clamping position or to a release position by a piston rod 23 connected to a piston slidably mounted within a pneumatic cylinder 24 operated by suitable air lines, not shown.

The transfer arm 21 is pivoted between the splicing position shown in FIGURE 1, and a transfer position wherein the roll R is dropped into the first support 11, by a quadrant gear 21a operated by a pinion 21b. The roll R is supported on both ends and to maintain the arms 21 at the ends' of the same angular position, the driving pinions 211) may be interconnected by a cross shaft, not shown, extending across the machine.

The web w of the unwinding roll R passes upwardly over a turning roil or splice roll 26. The splice roll is supported on columns 27 at the edges of the stand 10.

The splice is formed in a first nip N formed between 3 V g the splice roll 26 and a suction transfer roll 28. The suction transfer roll removes the lead end L of the .web from the fresh roll R and transfers it into the nip N to press it against the strip of adhesive applied across the web w by the glue applicator 19. The lead end is I held onto the roll R by breakaway tapes 25 which are broken when the end L is picked off the roll by suction applied by the transfer roll 28 by means of a suction gland 30. For this purpose, the transfer roll is a perforate shell with'the gland 30 mounted therein. At the transfer position of the transfer roll 28, as shown in the solid line position in FIGURE 1, the transfer roll 28 forms a second nip N with the fresh roll R As the lead end L passes through the second nip it is torn from the surface of the roll and transferred to the first nip N The suction gland 30 extends from the second nip toward the first nip N a suflicient distance to carry the lead end' L into the nip N Suction is applied to the gland 39 through a suction line controlled by a valve a, and an air jet 30b spaced a short distance from the roll R may be conveniently used to assist in the transfer operation.

The transfer roll 28 serves adual purpose in transferring the lead end of the web, and in synchronizing the speed of thefresh roll R with the surface speed of the travelling web w. I

When the fresh roll R is first mounted in the second roll support 21, it is brought up to rotational speed such as by an external portable power source which connects to an adaptor disk connected to the end of the core shaft. The adaptor for the core shaft 12 is shown at 9 in FIG- URE 2. The portable power'source has of course been removed before the roll R was transferred from the second support 21. r

The transfer roll28 is supported on a pivotal arm 29 which pivots to move the transfer roll 28 from the dotted line position to the solid line position in FIGURE 1.

For obtaining the nip pressure, the end shaft 33 of the transfer roll 28 is mounted in a bearing block 32 which slides in an outwardly extending slot 37 in the arm 29. The block is urged in an inward position toward the nips N and N by an expansible air chamber 34 which may be in the form of a bellows with a flexible wall, supplied with air pressure through a valve controlled air pressure line 35. The expansible air chamber 34 acts against coil compression springs 36 at the base of the slot 37. Thus when air is admitted through the supply line 35, the roll 27 will be forced against the nips N and N and when air is relieved from the chamber 34, the roll will be immediately forced away from the nips N and N For pivoting the roll from the dotted line rest positions, to the solid'line transfer position of FIGURE 1, the arm 29 has a quadrant gear 38 operated by a pinion 39. To maintain arms 29 on each side of the machine at the same angular position, the pinions 39 may be mounted on a cross shaft 39a.

In order to cut the trailing web w when the. splice is made, a cutter blade 49 is mounted on a pivotal arm 41 operated by a pneumatic operator 42, supplied with air pressure through a valve controlled supply line 43. As will be apparent, expansion of the air chamber 42 will swing the knife blade downwardly to sever thewebw.

The mechanism is well adapted to operation by manual controlj In manual control the transfer roll 28 will be brought down to the transfer position to obtain the same peripheral speed of the roll R as the speed of the travelling web w. When this has been reached, the glue applicator 19 will be brought up against the web, and the suction gland 36-will be subjected to a suction to, bring the lead end L of the web into the nip N to form the splice, and the cutter 40 will be operated.

The mechanism is also well adapted to automatic se-.

For automatic sequencing, a detection mechanism is employed for providing an output signal commensurate with the position of the lead end L. A photoelectric cell 44 may be employed to detect a marking 45 at the position of the lead end L. The photoelectric cell is located at a predetermined position by support mechanism which is indicated schematically at 46, and which adjusts the circumferential position of the photoelectric cell 44.

As illustarted in FIGURE 4, the photoelectric cell is connected to a control apparatus 47 which operates the electrically operated valves 3% and 18b for the suction gland and the glue applicator respectively.

The numeral 48 illustrates the point of application of the glue applicator 19. The distance from the point 48 to the nip N is represented by L The distance from point A along the-roll R to the nip N is L (measured along the roll R and along the suction roll periphery). To obtain the proper setting for the photoelectric cell 44, let L =L L equals the distance from position A to position B, wherein 1B is the location of the photoelectric cell. The'distance L is the required overlap for the lead end of the fresh web.

In operation, the photoelectric cell 44 will operate the 1 glue applicator when the mark 45 passes the cell 44.

This also opens the valve Stia to actuate the suction roll which has been previously placed in position. The lead end L will be drawn off the roll R as it reaches the transfer roll 28 and will be carried into the nip N After a length L passes through the nip N the glued line 48 will reach the nip N and the splice will be made. It will thus be seen that by adjustment of the circumferential position of the photoelectric cell 44, the amount of overlap can be adjusted and optimum overlap can be achieved in accordance with operating conditions.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an improved flying splice unwind mechanism which-provides the objectives, advantages and features above set forth. The mechanism is reliable in operation and provides a splice by transferring the lead end off of the. fresh parent roll R to a splice nip N The mechanism permits forming a splice with the application of glue during operation of the machine and accurate reliable splicing can be obtained.

The drawings and specification present a detailed disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the invention, and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific forms disclosed, but covers all modifications, changes and alternative constructions and methods falling within the scope of the principles taught by the invention.

parent roll, a splice roll forming a splice nip with the transfer roll through which the lead end and travelling web travel for forming a splice, and means for applying a suction to the surface of the transfer roll over a limited 7 area facing the fresh parent roll and extending between the fresh parent roll and said splice nip for carrying the lead end off the fresh parent roll to said splice nip.

2. A mechanism for continuously unwinding a web and forming a flying splice comprising, a first parent roll support for a parent roll for an unwinding travelling web, a second parent roll support for a fresh parent roll having a lead end to be spliced to the travelling web, a transfer roll for removing the lead end from the fresh parent roll, and a splice roll forming a splice nip with the transfer roll through which the travelling web and lead end travel for forming a splice.

3. A mechanism for continuously unwinding a web support for,

and forming a flying splice comprising a first parent roll parent'roll fo an unwinding travelling web, a second parent roll support for a fresh parent roll having a lead end to be spliced to the travelling web, a transfer roll for removing the lead end from the fresh parent roll, a splice roll for forming a splice nip with the transfer roll through which the traveling web and lead end travel for forming a splice, and means for moving said transfer roll to form a pressure nip with both said splice roll and said fresh parent roll so that the peripheral speed of the fresh parent roll will be synchronized with the speed of the traveling web.

4. A mechanism for continuously unwinding a web and forming a flying splice comprising a first parent roll support for a parent roll for an unwinding travelling web, a second parent roll support for a fresh parent roll having a lead end to be spliced to the travelling web, a transfer roll for removing the lead end from the fresh parent roll, a splice roll for forming a splice nip with the transfer roll through which the travelling web and lead end travel for forming a splice, a support having an expansible air pressure chamber connected to the transfer roll, and a controllable air supply means connected to said air chamher to form a pressure nip between the transfer roll with both said splice roll and said fresh parent roll so that the peripheral speed of the fresh parent roll will be synchronized with the speed of the travelling web.

5. A mechanism for continuously unwinding a web and forming a flying splice comprising, a first parent roll support for a parent roll for an unwinding travelling web, a second parent roll support for a fresh parent roll having a lead end to be spliced to the travelling web, a splice roll, and a hollow perforate suction transfer roll forming a splice nip with said splice roll and positioned for removing the lead end from the fresh parent roll having a suction gland within the roll being open to the fresh parent roll and etxending toward said nip for carrying the lead end on the transfer roll to the nip.

6. A mechanism for continuously unwinding a web and forming a flying splice comprising, a first parent roll support for a parent roll for an unwinding travelling web, a second parent roll support for a fresh parent roll having a lead end to be spliced to the travelling web, a trans fer roll for removing the lead end from the fresh parent roll, a splice roll forming a splice nip with the transfer roll through which the travelling web and lead end travel forming a splice, a support having an expansible air pressure chamber connected to the transfer roll, a controllable air supply means connected to said air chamber to form pressure nips between the transfer roll and both of said splice roll and said fresh parent roll so that the peripheral speed of the fresh parent roll will be synchronized with the speed of the travelling web, and spring means biasing the transfer roll away from the fresh parent roll toward the air chamber for quickly moving the transfer roll away from said pressure nip with release of pressure in said air chamber.

7. A mechanism for continuously unwinding a web and forming a flying splice comprising, a first parent roll support for a parent roll for an unwinding travelling web, a second parent roll support for a fresh parent roll having a lead end to be spliced to the travelling web, a transfer roll for removing the lead end from the fresh parent roll, a splice roll forming a splice nip with the transfer roll through which the travelling web and lead end travel for forming a splice, a glue applicator for applying glue to the surface of the travelling web ahead of the splice nip, a sensing device in advance of said transfer roll providing an output signal as a function of the position of the lead end of the web on the fresh parent roll, and operating means for said glue applicator operated by said output signal to apply glue to the web at a predetermined location of said lead end.

8. A mechanism for continuously unwinding a web and forming a flying splice comprising, a first parent roll support for a parent roli for an unwinding travelling web,

a second parent roll support for a first parent roll having a lead end to be spliced to the travelling Web, a transfer roll for removing the lead end from the fresh parent roll, a splice roll forming a splice nip with the transfer roll through which the travelling web and lead end travel for forming a splice, a glue applicator for applying glue to the surface of the travelling web ahead of the splice nip, a sensing device in advance of said transfer roll providing an output signal as a function of the position of the lead end of the web on the fresh parent roll, operating means for said glue applicator operated by said output signal to apply glue to the web, and means for adjusting the circumferential position of said sensing device so that the overlap of the lead and relative to the splice can be adjusted.

9. A mechanism for continuously unwinding a web and forming a flying splice comprising, a first parent roll support for a parent roll for an unwinding travelling web, a second parent roll support for a fresh parent roll having a lead end to be spliced to the travelling web, a transfer roll for removing the lead from the fresh parent roll, a splice roll forming a splice nip with the transfer roll through which the travelling web and lead end travel for forming a splice, means for applying suction to the surface of the transfer roll for carrying the lead end off the fresh parent roll, a sensing device in advance of said transfer roll providing an output signal as a function of the position of the lead end of the web on the fresh parent roll, operating means for said glue applicator operated by said output signal to apply glue to the web, and means for operating said suction means in response to said output signal so that the lead end will be transferred as it reaches the transfer roll and after operation of said glue applicator.

10. A mechanism for continuously unwinding a web and forming a flying splice comprising a first parent roll support for a parent roll for an unwinding travelling web, a second parent roll support for a fresh parent roll having a dead end to be spliced to the travelling web, a horizontal rail extending between said supports, a travelling chain for moving said first support along said rail toward said second support, a carriage for the first support slidably mounted on the rail, transfer arms for the second support carrying the fresh parent roll between an unwinding position and a transfer position adjacent the rail, a splice roll between said supports, a transfer roll carried on pivotal arms between a transfer position and a retracted position, a pressure expansion chamber for the transfer roll urging the transfer roll in transfer position into pressure nip forming engagement with said splice roll and with the fresh parent roll, said transfer roll being hollow and perforate for applying a suction to the lead end, a suction gland within said tranfser roll communicating suction to the exterior of the transfer roll for carrying the lead end from the fresh parent roll to the splice roll, a glue applicator positioned between the first support and the splice roll for appling glue to the travelling web, a suction control valve for controlling the suction in said suction gland, an electric eye having an output signal for operating said glue applicator and said valve, means for adjusting the circumferential position of the electric eye relative to the surface of the fresh roll for operating the suction gland and glue applicator at a predetermined rota tional position of said lead end, and a cutter positioned between the first support and the splice roll for cutting the trailing end of the travelling web.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,301,123 Goss Apr. 22, 1919 2,082,420 Roesen June 1, 1937 2,149,832 Bernard Mar. 7, 1939 2,596,189 Wieking May 13, 1952 3,035,787 Ota et a1 May 22, 1961 3,061,220 Gagg et a1 Oct. 30, 1962 

1. A MECHANISM FOR CONTINUOUSLY UNWINDING A WEB IN FORMING A FLYING SPLICE COMPRISING, A FIRST PARENT ROLL SUPPORT FOR A PARENT ROLL FOR AN UNWINDING TRAVELLING WEB, A SECOND PARENT ROLL SUPPORT FOR A FRESH PARENT ROLL HAVING A LEAD END TO BE SPLICED TO THE TRAVELLING WEB, A TRANSFER ROLL FOR REMOVING THE LEAD END FROM THE FRESH PARENT ROLL, A SPLICE ROLL FORMING A SPLICE NIP WITH THE TRANSFER ROLL THROUGH WHICH THE LEAD END AND TRAVELLING WEB TRAVEL FOR FORMING A SPLICE, AND MEANS FOR APPLYING A SUCTION TO THE SURFACE OF THE TRANSFER ROLL OVER A LIMITED AREA FACING THE FRESH PARENT ROLL AND EXTENDING BETWEEN THE FRESH PARENT ROLL AND SAID SPLICE NIP FOR CARRYING THE LEAD END OFF THE FRESH PARENT ROLL TO SAID SPLICE NIP. 